Birthday Wishes
by rockin1323
Summary: Birthdays in Abnegation aren't celebrated. This is Tris's first year in Dauntless. She's expecting to celebrate it alone, but Eric is determined to spend it with her. Eric's character is OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is a new story that I wrote today. Every year around my birthday I get grumpy too and don't like to celebrate my birthday. I thought that this was just a different take on an Eric and Tris fic.**

 **The songs listed below are the songs that I used for inspiration when writing this. Feel free to take a listen if you don't know them:**

Tee Shirt- Birdy

Undiscovered- Lauren Welsh

Your Ex-Lover is Dead- Stars

Sideways- Let's Go Sailing

 **Check out Polyvore in the collection "Birthday Wishes" to see what Tris is wearing in this chapter. Or Wordpress as well.**

 **Please remember that all mistakes are mine. And I do not own any of the characters, that honor belongs to Veronica Ross.**

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 **Birthday Wishes**

I sighed as I walked around the training room. The new initiates were horrible. It's been a two weeks since they started out, but it doesn't seem like they are getting better at fighting. I observe the transfer from Erudite- she's small, similar to my build when I first got here, but she's the only good one. She's making some progress. Everyone else stinks. I take a deep breath. "All right everyone go to lunch!" I yell. "And when you get back you better work harder than this!"

I massage my temples. I have a horrible headache. This day feels like it's going to last forever. This always happens on my birthday. I lay down on one of the unused mats.

I think of my birthdays the last few years. In Abnegation we didn't really celebrate birthdays. The gift was that you were excused from chores on that day. Last year my brother was the one who had to take over my dinner responsibilities. Either way, I'm not a fan of celebrating my birthday. I don't like people fawning over me. I don't want to be the center of attention; unlike Christina who arranged a huge party for herself this year. There were so many people in her apartment that it was impossible to move.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the door to the training room opens. It can't be the transfers; I just sent them to lunch ten minutes ago. I tilt my head from starring at the ceiling, and I see Eric peering down at me. "What do you want Eric?"

"I was coming to see how the transfers are doing, but they're not here. Where are they?" He asks in a hard voice.

I roll my eyes. I continue to lie there. "They were doing horribly so I sent them to lunch early."

He shakes his head. "What are you doing down there?"

"Minding my own business." I mutter.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I just have a headache. I don't feel like being in the cafeteria where everyone's talking so I thought I'd just stay here."

Eric doesn't say anything, but he joins me on the mat. I look over at him and see that he's made himself comfortable.

"What are you doing Eric?"

"I'm joining you. I'm a leader, you don't get to question me."

"Whatever." I turn my head back so I'm staring at the ceiling again.

"What the fuck crawled up your ass this morning stiff? Normally you can't shut the fuck up about how well the transfers are doing. Today you feeding them to the wolves."

I don't say anything. What am I going to say? Today's my birthday and I'm so used to it being insignificant that I'm not mentioning it to anyone? Yeah that's not going to happen.

"Your Dauntless leader asked you a question! Answer it!" He barks.

"I'm not allowed to be in a bad mood? You're always a pain in the fucking ass, but we still have to put up with you?" I bark back. Before I can react, Eric has me pinned underneath him. "Hey!"

"I'll repeat the god damn question. What the fuck is your problem stiff?"

I try to get out of his hold, but he has my arms pinned back with his forearms and his knees are digging in to my legs making it impossible for me to move without hurting myself. "Get off me you ass!" I head butt him, it loosens his hold on me enough that I'm able to switch our positions so now he's pinned underneath me. The difference is that my knee is digging in to his crotch. "Are you going to leave me alone?"

The only sound he makes is a grunt.

"I can't hear you." I whisper in his ear, taunting him.

"Get off me you fucking bitch." He gets himself out from under me, his hand massaging his crotch. "What the hell is up with you today?"

"Nothing Eric, I'm just in a bad mood." I sigh. "Why can't you go bother someone else and just leave me be?"

"Because everybody else is eating lunch. You're the only person who's not there."

"How does me not being there affect you?" I roll my eyes.

"Excuse me for seeing if you were okay. If I knew you were gonna crush my balls I would have left you alone."

I shake my head. How is it that Eric is the only person that noticed I wasn't at lunch? We're not even acquaintances, let a lone friends. I look over at him. He's starring back at me.

"So what's wrong with you today? You're never like this."

"We're not friends Eric. Do you really think that I'm going to tell you what's bothering me?"

"I doubt you'd prefer to talk to your friends about your bad mood." I shrug at him. "Come on Tris, what's the worst that happens? I know more about you? What's so wrong with that?"

"I'm not going to bother you with my problems." I reply.

"You're in Dauntless now. So stop with that Abnegation bullshit. What's bothering you so much today?"

Mentally, I weigh the pros and cons of telling Eric about my birthday. The cons are adding up faster than the pros. I sigh and look over at him. "Today's my birthday."

"Happy birthday!" He smiles at me. I roll my eyes. "What you hate your birthday?"

"I don't hate it, but I don't like celebrating or making a big deal out of it. Last year the big thing was that I was excused from cooking dinner. You don't make a big deal out of your birthdays in Abnegation. It's just stuck with me. I'd rather pretend that it isn't my birthday than do something."

Eric's quiet for a minute. "Well that's stupid. I can understand you not wanting to do any thing, but why would you keep it quiet that it's your birthday?"

"Have you met my friends? They don't understand my reasons. You don't even understand my reasons and you're pretty rational. I'd rather just pretend that I don't have a birthday."

"You can do what you want Tris, I'm not going to stop you." He frowns. "But I do have a proposition for you."

"What?"

"Come to my apartment for dinner tonight. It won't be anything crazy, just two people having dinner together."

"Thanks, but no thanks Eric. I'd prefer to just spend tonight alone."

"Are you going to eat today? I didn't see you at breakfast and you're skipping lunch now."

Why does he know all that? That's a little freaky. "Yes, I'm going to eat. I ate breakfast in my apartment today. I'll eat dinner when I get done with the initiates. They should be coming back soon. You should go get some food before lunch ends." I smile, mostly in an attempt for him to get going.

Eric shakes his head. "I'll wait with you. I want to watch the fights and see how they are all doing."

Thankfully the initiates come back soon, so Eric and I aren't sitting in silence for too long. We both watch the fights quietly, only announcing matches and winners. When they're done I dismiss them early. There's no reason for me to make them work harder. I clean up the few items left behind. I can feel Eric starring at me from the door.

I walk out of the training room with Eric following silently behind me. When I get to the chasm I stop. "Why are you following me?"

"I'm not following you. I literally live down the hall from you. You've been living in your apartment for a year and you haven't noticed that I live down the hall from you?" He laughs.

"Sorry," I look away from him. "I completely forgot." I continue walking with no further comments to Eric. When I get to my door, Eric walks past me to his apartment. I go inside and quickly change in to yoga pants and a long sleeve shirt. I lie on my bed relaxing, taking deep breaths.

My stomach grumbles violently, making it known that I should eat. I know that I should get up and make something for dinner, but I just don't feel like cooking. I think there's a can of soup in a cabinet. I can do that for dinner. I get up and search for the little can. I just find it when there's a knock on the door. I open it up and see Eric standing there with two bags in his hands.

He pushes past me walking in uninvited. He sets the bags on the counter and looks at me.

"What are you doing Eric?" I glare at him, closing the door.

"I'm making dinner."

"I told you that I'm going to eat. I have dinner already."

Eric looks around and sees the can of soup sitting there. "That isn't dinner. That's what you eat when you're sick."

"I just want this day to be over Eric. Just go home so I can go to bed." I sigh.

"No! I'm not gonna let you spend you're birthday all alone. Come on I'll make dinner. Then once we eat I'll leave if you want me to."

"Fine."

"Great. I'll cook all this. You should take a nap. You look fucking exhausted. I'll come wake you up when it's ready."

"Okay." I head to my room, snuggling up in my comforter. I listen to Eric as he moves around in my kitchen. I hold in a laugh when I hear him curse. After a couple minutes I can feel myself drifting off to sleep.

I wake up when I feel someone shaking me. I look up and see Eric smiling down at me. "Come on Tris, dinner's ready."

I stretch and get up. I walk out of my room and see Eric has set the small table too. Everything is plated too. He takes two beers out of the fridge and hands me one. "You really didn't have to do this Eric."

"I know I didn't, but just accept it and move on." He clinks his bottle against mine, before taking a large sip. "Come on, let's eat before it gets cold." He pulls out the chair for me. "I hope this is okay."

I look down at the plate. A huge steak is sitting on there with some vegetables and potatoes. "I smells good. Thank you." We eat in relative silence. By the time I finish Eric's been done for ten minutes. He's just been starring at me. "What Eric?"

"Nothing. I'm not allowed to look at you now? First I can't walk behind you. Now I can't look at you?" He smirks. "You're becoming pretty bossy Tris."

I shake my head and try not to laugh.

"Look at that. She finally smiles." He smirks. "This is the first time you've looked remotely happy today."

I shrug. "Like I said, I don't like celebrating my birthday."

"Was this a bad celebration?" He smiles.

"No it wasn't." I smile back.

"Can I just ask you something?" I nod. "I thought you and Four were dating. Why aren't you spending the night with him?"

I laugh at that. "Eric, Four and I were mainly a thing during initiation. He and I are better as friends. Why?"

"No reason. I was just wondering why I hadn't seen him around here." He shrugs.

I nod. I get up and starting taking the plates so I can clean up.

"Uh it's your birthday, I thought you were excused from dinner duty." He smiles at me.

"Seriously? That's the last time I tell you something." I smirk.

Eric laughs. "Only I will ever know. I promise." He takes the dishes from me and begins to clean up. After ten minutes, everything is clean. "There you go. Quick, easy, and painless."

"Thank you for dinner Eric." I walk over and give him a hug, along with a kiss on his cheek.

"You're welcome." He smiles back at me. "Well I'm gonna go. Night Tris."

"Night Eric." I follow him to the door, and close it behind him. I put the dishes away that are drying. I close the cabinet, ready to go to bed, when there's a knock on my door. I open it and see Eric standing there again. This time he has a cupcake with a lit candle on it.

"Make a wish Tris." He smiles. He enters my apartment, closing the door behind him.

I close my eyes and think for a moment. When I have my wish I open my eyes and blow it out. "Thank you Eric. This has been the best birthday I've ever had."

He smiles again as he puts the cupcake down. "Think you can tell me what you wished for?"

"If I tell you then it's not going to happen." I laugh.

"Well can I give you my gift then?"

"You shouldn't have gotten me anything." I tell him honestly, just him forcing me to spend my birthday with him and making it enjoyable was enough.

"I didn't spend anything on it. I swear." Eric smiles. He puts his hand on my waist and brings me close to him. His other hand goes to my neck. He looks at my lips once before pulling me closer and kissing me.

Kissing Eric is definitely different and better than kissing Four. Four's kisses were soft while Eric's kiss is powerful. Our lips move in sync with one another. He licks my bottom lip, and immediately I open my lips allowing him access. His tongue dances against mine. I pull away when I'm out of breath.

Eric smiles at me. "I hope that you have a happy birthday Tris." He kisses my forehead before walking out.

I smile at the door. This is an interesting end to my birthday.

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 **Please leave a review. I'm undecided if I should write another chapter or if I should just leave it at this. Please let me know what you think. Also if you listened to any of the songs. Don't forget to check out polyvore to see what Tris is wearing in this chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey all. Thank you for all of your lovely reviews. I'm happy that you all like this story. Well here is the next chapter. I assure you that it is happier than the last chapter. Like before there's a list of songs that helped me while writing this chapter:**

Hold Back the River- James Bay

God Keeps- Lauren Welsh

Best Shot- Birdy

 **Check out Polyvore in the collection "Birthday Wishes" to see what Tris is wearing in this chapter. Or Wordpress as well.**

 **Please remember that all mistakes are mine. And I do not own any of the characters, that honor belongs to Veronica Ross.**

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Chapter 2

It's been a week since my birthday. Ever since Eric kissed me I keep seeing him everywhere. I see him in the cafeteria when I get food. I always see him in the halls. Hell I even see him in my office. The day right after my birthday, Eric was waiting in there for me. He was just dropping in to see what I was teaching the initiates that day.

I lock my door behind me and make my way to the training room. I walk in exactly at nine. Any initiate who walks in after me is getting punished. When I walk in I see that everyone's there before me. Too bad, I was hoping to make an example out of the initiates who are the bullies.

I show them how to properly hold a gun. I explain my stance and why it works. They watch me shoot. "It's your turn now. You should have been able to pick up the stance. I don't want to see any of you flinch when shooting. You joined Dauntless to be brave." I yell.

I watch as the initiates try to shoot. I'll correct them after the next round. I just want them used to holding a gun. A few of the initiates jump when the door bangs open. I don't even have to look to know that it's Eric. He's been coming here once or twice a day. He says it's to make sure that I'm doing my job properly.

"They suck." He says loud enough for some of them to look over at him. "Keep your fucking eyes on the targets initiates. You can't be that stupid!"

I hold in my smirk. "If one of them pisses themselves I'm making you clean it up."

Eric glances at me. "I still have seniority over you."

I bite the inside of my cheek. I've been trying to keep my mouth shut ever since he kissed me. He lost that little bit of edge that used to scare me. Now I just see him as a guy with a job to do not some ruthless leader who's going to beat the shit outta me. "Okay Eric."

He walks away from me. He goes to correct some of the initiates posture. I can see some of the girls either cringing away from him or leaning in to him. One was so close to him that her back was against his chest. I feel a small pang of jealously. It's so stupid. I know that he can't be interested in any of them. They're still children.

He comes back and stands next to me. "God that Candor transfer is trying to get killed."

"Whatever do you mean?" I smirk.

"You saw her. She was all over me. God I can't stand this shit. It reminds me of you and Four. It was disgusting watching the two of you." He makes a face.

"You could always push her over the chasm to teach her some respect."

"Two completely different things." He rolls his eyes. He glances at his watch. "Go to lunch. You all suck at this. I want you to be better when you come back."

The initiates leave without a word. It leaves Eric and me in silence. I head to the tables and clean up their mess. I should really start to make them do this.

"So are we just going to ignore this?"

"Ignore what Eric?" I look over at him.

"Ignore that kiss." He says bluntly.

"You're the one who left. What was it you said? Have a happy birthday?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "It's been a week. How many fucking hints do I have drop to you?"

"So you stalking me is a hint?"

"I was trying to talk to you, but you don't give me the time of day. The only time you talk to me is when the initiates are here." He yells suddenly. "Do you really thing that I enjoy watching these children? Not to mention having to deal with the desperate ones rubbing against. That's not the body I want against mine."

I shake my head. "You should have just opened your mouth."

Eric walks to me. He roughly pulls the gun out of my hand. He lifts me up so I'm sitting on the table. "How's this?" One of his hands goes to my neck while the other is gripping my waist. He pulls me to him, kissing me.

I moan against his lips when he does. This kiss is better than the one on my birthday. I run my tongue against his bottom lip and immediately Eric opens his mouth. His tongue runs against mine. God kissing him is always different.

My legs wrap around his waist to keep him close. His hand travels from my waist to my lower back rubbing small circles. He gently bites my lower lip when he pulls back.

"You never answered me." He whispers in my ear.

"I like it." I smile. I pull Eric to me. His kisses are addicting.

"Tris why the fuck are you still he-" a familiar voice yells.

Eric and I pull apart, staring at Christina. I unwrap my legs from his waist. Eric on the other hand doesn't move. He stays at the spot between my legs. His hands are still on my body.

"Chris, give me a minute and I'll meet you outside." I tell her. I watch as she walks out of the door.

"I'll let you go then." Eric takes a step back.

I hop off the table. "Are you going to get food?"

Eric nods with a smile. "I'll see you back here in a bit." He walks out, ignoring the questions Christina is yelling at him.

I follow him, stopping when I see Christina standing there with her eyes wide. "What the hell was that?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." I reply. I start to walk to the cafeteria.

"No that was definitely something. Why were you kissing Eric?" She yells.

"Gee why do you kiss Will? Is it because you like him?" I ask her like I'd speak to a child.

"That's different Will and I are in a relationship. You and Eric aren't anything. If you were you would have told me."

"Maybe I kept something to myself so that it could be private. Not blabbed to the entire compound because you can't keep your fucking mouth shut." I yell at her. It wasn't my intention to yell, but she just never knows when to be quiet.

I grab something that I can eat quickly since I have twenty minutes. I look over at Christina as she sits with Will. I can practically see the steam coming out of her ears. I see that Eric is sitting alone. I walk over to him, sitting across from him. He looks up at me and then goes back to his food.

"What are you doing here?" He asks blankly.

I roll my eyes. "Christina's freaking out and she's mad that I yelled at her. I'm letting her cool off. I can move if you don't want me to sit with you."

"Just sit. Obviously I'm not going to get mad that you sat down with me." He smirks at me.

Again we eat in comfortable silence. It's different than when I eat with Christina and Will. They're always talking about something. I really don't get a chance to speak. When we're finished eating Eric takes my plate and puts it up on the conveyer for me. We both slowly walk to the training room.

"Do you want to grab dinner together tonight?" Eric asks me.

"In the cafeteria?" I question. Isn't that what we just did?

"No. What I meant was do you want to come over for dinner tonight? I'll cook dinner for us. Something different than what we ate last week. What do you think? Interested?" I can see that Eric's biting his lip. He looks nervous.

I nod. "I'd like that."

Training the initiates goes by slowly. However, they seem to be picking up the guns easier than they did fighting. It's not much, but it is improvement. By the end of the day, each of the initiates has at least gotten a bull's eye once. Some of them shot it twice. It'll be hard to figure out who is going to get cut after the first stage.

Eventually I dismiss them. They're doing better. I was hoping that I didn't have to make an example out of any of them. I clean up the bullet shells from the floor. I should really have an initiate do this instead of me.

Eric smiles at me when I'm done. "So do you want to come over in an hour? I should be able to shower and change in that time."

"Sure." I smile. This is a date right? I would assume that this is a date. We walk to our apartments. Every now and then our shoulders would bump into one another. Eric would smirk at me, like I did it on purpose.

"I'll see you in a bit then." Eric continues to his door.

"Wait! Are you changing into sweats or jeans?" I ask quickly.

"Sweats. I'm getting out of these pants for the day."

I nod. So it's not a date; just two people getting together for dinner. I have nothing worry about then. I take my time showering. When I get out I quickly change into sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt. I dry my hair as much as I can with my towel. I decide to just let the rest air dry. This isn't a date anyway so it's not like I have to make too much of an effort.

I glance at the time. It's been about an hour. I grab my keys and lock up behind me. It's strange to be walking to Eric's apartment. I've never been this far down the hallway before. I knock on the door and wait.

The door opens up with a shirtless Eric. I have to force myself to bring my eyes away from his chest. Eric smirks. "See something you like?"

I blush. "Are you going to invite me in or do I have to stand here all night?" Eric moves over and allows me to enter. I look around his apartment. It's about the same as mine. These apartments are really made for single people. I guess once someone gets married they can apply for a larger space.

I look over and see that Eric's put a shirt on. It's sad, Eric without a shirt is a great sight. He really should just walk around shirtless. No wonder the initiates are trying to feel him up. I bite my lip to keep myself from laughing.

"What are you thinking about over there?" He asks from the counter.

I smirk. "Just that some of the initiates would be jealous of the sight that I saw earlier." I can't hold in my laugh anymore.

"Shut up." He laughs. "God those initiates are horrible. They really don't understand the meaning of no… Anyway what are you in the mood for tonight?"

You, but I kept that thought to myself. "I'm fine with whatever. I still have that can of soup if you want that."

Eric laughs as if it's the funniest thing in the world. "No way."

I shrug. "You can figure it all out then. You did pretty good last time." I sit on Eric's couch. It's so comfortable. If I don't get up soon then I'm going to fall asleep. I've been falling asleep early after training the initiates. I listen as Eric opens and closes cabinets. I can feel myself starting to fall asleep.

I wake up disoriented. I feel like a furnace. I move my head and look around. I fell asleep on the couch and I'm definitely not on the couch now. I feel an arm around me. Eric. He must have moved me to his room when I fell asleep. I shake him. "Eric. Wake up!"

"What?" He groans.

"What time is it?"

"Two in the morning." He says in to my neck. "Go back to sleep. We'll talk about it when the sun's out." He kisses my shoulder.

I wake up later to the bed moving. I look around. I'm not in my room, but Eric's. It's so strange to wake up here. Eric walks out of the bathroom without his shirt on.

"Morning sleepy head." He smiles.

"Morning." I yawn. "Why did I wake up in your bed when I fell asleep on the couch?"

Eric smirks. "Because when I finished making dinner you were asleep on the couch. Instead of me joining you on the couch I brought you to my bed. Obviously all we did was sleep."

I smile. "You just wanted me for my cuddles huh?"

"No. I want you for your kisses too." He leans down and kisses my lips gently.

I look at him with a small smile on my lips. "So what do you want?"

Eric thinks for a second. "You."

"Me?"

"I want to be with you. I want to go on dates with you. I want to be able to kiss you. I want to spend time with you. I want to be the one to make you happy. I want to know more about you."

I smile. "I think what you're trying to say is that you want a relationship."

"With you I do."

I bite my lip. "I'd like that. You make me happy. You're the first person to make me feel special on my birthday." I pull Eric to me. My arms wrap around his neck as I kiss him. I don't care if either of us have morning breath and neither does he.

Right now we'll just have to see where this goes.

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 **Please remember to leave a review. Don't forget to check out either Wordpress or Polyvore for Tris's outfits.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again. Thank you all for your lovely reviews. I'm sorry that I didn't get to respond to them. I was busy working on this new chapter. This chapter is shorter than the others, but I'm sure that you will all love it. _I believe this is going to be the last chapter of the story. I will most likely write an epilogue, at some point in time._ Like last time there's a list of songs that helped inspire me. Please check them out:**

Soft Control- Lauren Welsh

Chains- Nick Jonas

Change of Time- Josh Ritter

Real Love- Tom Odell

 **Check out Polyvore in the collection "Birthday Wishes" to see what Tris is wearing in this chapter. Or Wordpress as well.**

 **Please remember that all mistakes are mine. And I do not own any of the characters, that honor belongs to Veronica Ross.**

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Chapter Three

 _One Year Later…_

"Movie it initiates! You can run faster than this!" I'm about twenty yards ahead of them. They're going way too slow. I turn around again. "If I beat any of you back to the compound I'm going to hang you over the chasm!"

I slow down my pace, not too much for them to notice, but just enough for them to get there before me. I'm just about to reach the door to the compound when someone pulls me to them. I head butt them. They release me groaning. I turn around and see that Eric has a bloody nose.

"God Tris, do you really think that someone would be stupid enough to attack you right at the door to the compound? Do you even know how many cameras are on this door?" He groans again. His fingers are pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You shouldn't scare me like that. Not today of all days." I grumble. Today was my ninetieth birthday.

"I told you to lose that self pitying Abnegation bullshit already." He barks.

I want to scream at him. I would love to do that, but I bite my tongue to stop myself. "Go to the infirmary Eric. Get that checked out." I walk away from him to the training room. The initiates are sitting on the mats. "Who said that you could fucking relax. Go to the punching bags and get to work."

I watch them all scramble to get to a bag. Good. I want them to fear me. I've been too easy on them for the last two weeks. Eric and Max have been telling me that from the beginning. I thought that if I was nicer to them they would go above and beyond, but I was proven wrong. So now I have to be a hard-ass because they are all lazy.

I dismiss them for the day after three grueling hours. Half of them look like they are going to die. I know that I was tougher than I had planned to been, but honestly I don't care.

I keep an eye out for Eric as I walk to my apartment. He has a key. I'm hoping that he hasn't used it today. He's already asked me to move in. He's asked me every three months since we started dating. I've said no every time. The small amount of space that I have from him is good. The space helps our relationship, especially on days like today when all I want is to be left alone.

I've made it perfectly clear that I want him to leave me to myself today. I even asked, begged, Max to give him more work. He must not have done what I asked since Eric was able to find me earlier.

I unlock my door. All of the lights are off. Perfect, he's not here. I change in to a pair of pajamas. I throw my clothes in the direction of the hamper- not caring if I miss it or not. I climb in to bed, only seven more hours until my birthday is over.

I've been staring at the ceiling for the past two hours. Physically I am drained. Mentally I'm wired.

I've been thinking about my relationship with Eric. Things have been going good for us. I can't get over the fact that every three months, like clockwork, Eric asks me to move in with him. I can just about predict the week he's going to bring it up again. He gets nervous and he starts snapping at random people again. There've been rumors about why he gets like this, but none of them are correct.

Christina can't understand why I don't want to move in with him. Her and I were originally supposed to move in together, however Will asked her to move in with him at the end of initiation. Of course she said yes. They've been together for two years now. I get that she wants me to be happy, but she doesn't understand why I want that small bit of space away from Eric.

Aside from the fact that he and I both work closely together, there's the fact of my birthday. Last year Eric played hooky on his birthday. He bribed me to do the same and what we did want he wanted for the day- mainly drinking all day followed by birthday sex. He tried to get me to do the same. Unlike him, I just want to be by myself.

I know that if I move in with Eric before I'm able to get a grip on how I feel about my birthday that it will cause a huge fight every year. I know that he'll continue to bug the crap out of me until he gets what he wants. In his words, "only last year you were allowed to act like a self loathing Abnegation. You're Dauntless now, act like it."

I hear the front door open and close softly. If I didn't know who it was I'd hold my breath, but I know that no matter what Eric will find me.

The bedroom door opens. "What are you doing Tris?" I can hear the smirk in his voice.

"Spending my birthday the way that I want." I turn on my side so my back is facing him.

I hear his clothes dropping on the floor. Eric climbs in to bed with me; he puts an arm around my waist, effectively trapping me. "Is this really how you want to spend your birthday?"

"Yes." I sigh. I'd actually prefer to spend it alone, but I know that Eric's not going to allow that.

"Fine, then we'll do this. Even if it is boring as fuck."

"Thanks." I roll my eyes. I'm thankful that he can't see that. I listen to Eric's breathing. After a little while it starts to even out. For the first time initiation started he's fallen asleep before me.

I slowly extract myself from him. It's nice of him that he's heree, but I wish that I could have spent today alone. I put the kettle on for tea. When the water boils I turn it off quickly not to wake Eric. Unfortuantely after a couple minutes Eric comes walking out. His hair is sticking up in twenty different directions.

"What are you doing out here?" He rubs his eyes.

"Just making a cup of tea." I hold of the mug to show him. "Do you want one?"

"I'll make it." Eric gives me a kiss on my forehead. He walks around my apartment like he owns it. I like that he's familiar and comfortable here. He brings his tea over to where I am. "Do you want me to make dinner?"

The one thing that I've never been able to get over is that Eric is a pretty descent cook. I shake my head. "I'm not that hungry."

"You gotta eat babe. I didn't see you at breakfast or lunch today." He sighs.

I roll my eyes. I'm not hungry. I want to sleep, but I just can't. My mind won't let me relax.

"You have to eat. Remember how we basically live together. I was there when you left this morning- skipping breakfast. I didn't see you later at lunch either. So from that I'm guessing you didn't eat today."

"I'm not hungry Eric. Tea is fine right now. When I get hungry I will make something, if you're hungry then cook for yourself. No one's stopping you from eating."

Eric's hand comes down on the counter. "This isn't healthy Tris. You need to eat. I swear to god the Abnegation fuck up all the dependents."

"And the Erudite are better? You're all fucking not it alls." I yell back. If he's going to fight dirty then so am I.

"Really because I can't give you a gift without you trying to return it." He yells. He goes back to the bedroom. He comes out with a small wrapped box. "Here open this. I swear to god if you try to return this I'm going to go crazy." He tosses the box at me.

I look at him. I told him I don't want anything. I roll my eyes and open the box. Inside is a beautiful black stone ring. I look at Eric, but he's kneeling down on one knee.

"Tris, will you marry me?" He smirks.

I stare at him. I won't even move in with him, but he's asking me to marry him. He's fucking nuts.

"You have to answer me eventually." He laughs. "My knee is really starting to hurt."

"Eric." I sigh. "I-"

"No don't you dare so say no. I love you. I don't know how many times since we've first said it that I've repeated it to you. I will keep repeating it to you until the day that I die. I'd say until the day we separate, but I'm not going to let that happen." He laughs. "Say yes. I want your birthday to be a happy day for you. The day that we first got together and the day that we decided to make our lives permanent." He stands up smiling.

I look at him. I can't help the smile that forms on my lips. "Yes I'll marry you."

Eric wraps his arms around me, lifting me up. "Thank god." He breathes. "I really didn't want to think what would happen if you said no." He puts me down. He takes the box from my hand. He delicately puts the ring on the fourth finger of my left hand.

"I love you Eric." I smile.

"I love you too." He brings his lips to mine, kissing me passionately. "I hope this day will be something you think of with happy memories instead of something that you want to hide from."

If anyone ever saw this side of Eric, he'd go crazy. With me it's different, it's real love with us. He's made my past two birthdays brighter. I can only imagine what the future is has in store for us, but I can't wait for it.

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 **What did you think? Do you think this is a perfect ending for Eric and Tris? Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. I guarantee that I will be responding to all reviews- except for ones left by guests because I am unable to respond to them.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello all. I'm back with the epilogue to this chapter. I got a request to "finish" it from BooksLover2000. So here in the final chapter. I hope that you all enjoy it.**

 **As usual here are the songs that inspired me for this chapter:**

 _Something Big- Shawn Mendes_

 _Somewhere Only We Know- Keane_

 _Change of Time- Josh Ritter_

 _Growing Up- Run River North_

 **Unfortunately** **Veronica Roth owns these characters, I just borrow them to tell my own story. Please remember to leave me a review. Please enjoy.**

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Epilogue

Two Years Later…

"Max you have to take over for me!" I bang my fist on his desk. "I can't take it any longer with the damn initiates. They think I'm their friend. That Amity transfer decided that she needed to express her feelings to me today. I can't deal with this shit. They are fucking crazy."

Max looks at me with raised eyebrows. "Excuse me? Who do you think you're talking to? I know that you did not just barge into my office and start yelling at me to do your damn job."

I take deep breaths. "Please. I can't deal with them today. I'm going to shoot one of them. I'm not sure if it will be in the foot, arm, or head."

"Ask your husband to take over for you." He supplies.

"I can't. He thinks that he's pulling one over on me by pretending that he's busy. The fucking bastard is planning something for my birthday." I roll my eyes.

"Ah Eric warned me that you would be extra bitchy today." Max laughs. The asshole has the nerve to laugh at me. "You're Dauntless Tris. Get over the fact that people want to spend your birthday with you."

"You were supposed to take my side just once." I grumble. Suddenly an idea pops in to my head. "Can Four and I switch roles for the day? He can babysit the little brats and I can take over in the control room."

Max thinks about it for a second. "Isn't Four working a twelve hour shift today?"

Shit. He wasn't supposed to know Four's schedule. "I thought he was only working six hours today."

"Bullshit, you made the schedule. Go back to the children. Let Eric have his fun planning your birthday. And go lighten up. You're Dauntless Tris, act like it on your birthday. Go zip line down the Hancock building if that will calm you down." Max dismisses me with a flick of his wrist.

I slam his office door behind me and go back to the transfer initiates. When I walk in the training room they are laying on the mats. "Hey!" I scream from the doorway. "I told you all to work with the punching bags. What the fuck are you doing lying on the ground?" None of them have anything to say to me. They all look at me with a mix of fear and anger. "Get the fuck up and get to the punching bags. If you're not at a punching bag in five seconds I am throwing your lazy asses over the chasm. Then I'll tell Max that you assholes deserved it for not listening to me. Five… Four… Three…" I start counting putting fingers down for each number.

By the time I get to three every initiate is at a punching bag. Too bad, I really wanted to throw some one over the chasm today. For the next three hours I make them work until they look like they are going to pass out. Everyone used to say that Eric was the toughest trainer, but that honor passed down to me when I took over Four's job. They say that Eric is a box of roses compared to me.

"Stop!" I wait for them all to turn their tired heads over to me. "Get the hell out of here. You all can do ten times better than this. I expect to see progress tomorrow. Anyone who disappoints me will be hanging from the chasm."

They all walk past me avoiding eye contact. When the last initiate leaves I look around the room to make sure everything is in place. Slowly I make my way back to the apartment. I open the door, letting it bang against the wall. No one jumps out to surprise me. Thank god. I don't think that I'd be able to deal with a damn surprise party today. I make my way to our room. Eric isn't here. He must be busy from whatever he was doing earlier. I strip out of my clothes, tossing them in the hamper. I change in to leggings and one of Eric's t-shirts.

I'm just about to put the chicken on when Eric walks through the door. He has two boxes in his arms. "What are you doing? You know that I'm a better cook than you."

I hold in my smirk. "Seriously Eric?"

"It's true. You still cook like you're in abnegation. Are you making chicken breast, peas, and mashed potatoes?" He raises an eyebrow at me.

I avoid eye contact, holding the chicken over the pan. "I'm making chicken."

"Great, well put it away for tomorrow. I'm making you lasagna. I know how much you like it." He smiles at me.

"I'm ready to start cooking Eric." I frown at him.

"I love you, but I'm not sitting through your cooking." He laughs. "I can't do another meal of flavorless chicken and peas."

"Fine." I look at the boxes. "What do you have here?"

"Your gift and your cake."

"Eric." I warn.

"Too fucking bad baby. You're gonna eat your birthday dinner, enjoy a piece of Dauntless cake, and then open the gift I got you. It's going to be a great fucking day." Eric smirks at me like he's hiding something.

I sigh. "Fine. You can cook while I relax. It can be like every other year we've been together."

"Are you gonna go take a nap too? I do believe that is part of the tradition." Eric smirks at me.

I laugh at him. "Not today. I've gotten used to dealing with the initiates this year. I didn't even have to make them follow me for five miles today."

"And everyone thought that I was tough on the initiates. You're ten times worse then me."

"Yeah well I have to be tough on them. They don't take me seriously." I sigh. "They probably won't take me seriously…" Shit!

"Why wouldn't they take you seriously?"

"Um… Because I am shorter than half of them. Not to mention, I still look like an initiate." I bite my lip. Thankfully, Eric isn't paying attention to me. Otherwise he would know that I'm lying. I take a deep breath. A couple more hours then I can tell him.

I lay back on the couch, listening as Eric cooks. Since we've been married, Eric has been the one who cooks. He can't stand the way that I cook, abnegation like. So he's taken it upon himself to cook dinner every night. Or we go to the cafeteria, but it's not as good as Eric's cooking. When the lasagna's in the oven, Eric joins me on the couch resting my feet on his lap. He has my birthday gift in front of me on the coffee table.

"Think you'd wanna open your gift now? I know I said after cake, but I don't think I can wait much longer." He smiles.

I sit up. "Sure. I know that it will make you happy." He hands me the box with a red bow on it. He watches me anxiously as I open it. Inside's a red collar, two bowls, and some squeaky toys. I stare at him, before I realize what it's for. "A dog?" I laugh.

"Go check the spare bedroom." He smiles.

I walk down the hall opening the door to the unused room. Inside on a little doggy bed is a little Siberian husky. The little dog comes running up to me, licking the top of my feet. I pick it up, cuddling it to my chest. "Eric this is too much."

He laughs. "No way. I saw this little guy last week. I made Max watch him until your birthday." He scratches the little guy between the ears.

"Is that why he was in a pissy mood?"

"Yeah, this little guy shit and pissed all over his apartment." He laughs.

I bite my lip as I look at my husband. "I have a gift for you too."

His eyebrows scrunch. "It's your birthday not mine."

"Follow me." I walk to our bedroom. I open my nightstand draw and take out a small box. I hand it to Eric. I put the little puppy on the floor between Eric and I.

He opens the box. Picking up the plastic test. He looks at it with his mouth wide open. He goes back and forth between the test and me. "Seriously?"

I nod.

"We're having a kid?" He smiles.

"Yes. I found out two weeks ago." I laugh. "I'm about nine weeks along now." I grab the small sonogram picture from the nightstand and hand it to him. "That little blobby spec is our baby. It's as big as a blueberry."

Eric pulls me to him, hugging me tight. "We're really having a kid." He kisses me, his tongue invading my mouth passionately. He lifts me up and spins me around.

I pull away to laugh. "Yes. We're having a baby, in about 7 and a half months. We can use this little puppy as practice you know."

Eric laughs. His hand goes to my stomach. It's still flat, but it's hard. "I can't believe we're going to be parents."

"It was only a matter of time Eric." I laugh.

"We're really starting a family." He smiles.

I nod. "This is only the first child Eric. I want a bunch of little clones running around."

Eric laughs. "Whatever you want baby."

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 **Thank you for following this story. I hope you enjoyed it.**


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